Chapter 2
Camilla knew they'd arrived when she heard the awful band. When the limo door opened she couldn't get out fast enough. Between the boys fighting, Evie's makeup tips and Mal's plotting all Camilla wanted was to find wherever she was staying and lie down in the peace and quiet. On the Isle whenever she wanted to get away for some 'me time' she'd wander the alleys herself terrorizing the kids of lesser villains.
"Boys! We have an audience!" Mal whispered getting their attention. Camilla fixed her hat and jacket as Jay made some ridiculous excuse that the woman in front of them clearly didn't buy.
"Welcome to Auradon Prep!" she said with a smile, "I'm Fairy Godmother, headmistress." She bowed as she introduced herself. Well, step one: find Fairy Godmother –complete. Now could she make life even easier for them and whip out her wand so they could grab it and go?
"The Fairy Godmother?" Mal asked clarifying, " As in bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?"
"Bibbidi-bobbidi, you know it."
"Yeah, I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella when you just –appeared! Out of nowhere. With that sparkly wand, warm smile. . . and that sparkly wand."
"Oh, that was a long time ago, and as I always say 'don't focus on the past or you'll miss the future!'" Yeah right, all the villains did back on the Isle was think of the past, and how they wanted revenge for it. Of course Auradon would want to forget all that, when they kicked out their parents and continued their happy lives.
"It's so good to finally meet you all." The boy next to Fairy Godmother said stepping forward. "I'm Ben."
"Prince! Benjamin. Soon to be king!" the girl next to him said nearly squealing with delight.
"You had me at prince." Evie said walking up to him, "My mom's a queen which, makes me a princess."
"The Evil Queen has no royal status here." The girl said still smiling, "And neither do you."
"This is Audrey." Ben said sounding slightly embarrassed.
"Princess Audrey. " she corrected, "His girlfriend." She said taking his hand, "Right Benny-boo?"
"Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around and I'll see you tomorrow." Fairy Godmother said from between them, "The doors of wisdom are never shut!" she exclaimed pulling apart Ben and Audrey's hands, "But the library hours are from eight to eleven and as you may have heard I have a little thing about curfews." She said before walking away with the gold and blue band following her.
"It is so, so, so good to finally meet you all." Prince Ben said approaching them with a smile which only faltered when Jay punched him in the shoulder -a common welcome on the Isle. Then the prince moved over and tried to shake Camilla's hand but she crossed her arms silently letting him know that was not going to happen. He instead gave a nod and a smile before moving on to Mal who shook his hand roughly.
"This is a momentous occasion. And one that I hope will go down in history. . . " he drifted off from him speech again as he shook Carlos's candy covered hand, "Is that chocolate?" he asked before remembering what he was saying. " . . . as the day our two peoples began to heal."
"Or the day that you showed five peoples where the bathrooms are." Mal said interrupting though Ben didn't seem to mind.
"A little bit over the top?" he asked her with a chuckle.
"A little more than a little bit." She chuckled trying to avoid eye contact.
"Well so much for my first impression." They both chuckled again and Camilla raised an eyebrow sensing something between the two. Princess Audrey must have noticed it too because she leaned into Ben trying to break the two apart.
"Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora." She explained, "Sleeping –"
"Beauty." Mal finished for her, "Yeah, I've heard the name. You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world, but my mother to their stupid christening."
"Water under the bridge."
"Totes!" Mal said with a fake smile before both she and Audrey started laughing insincerely. Then their laughs turned into sighs as they started glaring at each other. Ben was oblivious to the harsh edge in the exchange and clapped his hands together.
"Okay! So how about a tour?" he asked then began a brief history lesson, "Auradon Prep, originally built over three hundred years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king." Ben practically quoted a history book as they walked past a statue of his father. Ben clapped his hands and it turned into a beast causing Carlos to jump in fright right into Jay's arms.
"Carlos its okay." Ben said, "My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible."
"Does he shed much?" Mal asked.
"Yeah, mom won't let him on the couch." Ben replied before leading them on. Mal and Camilla exchanged a glance both of them unsure whether the prince was joking or not. But it did get her thinking about how wonderful it would be, once the villains took over, to have a beast throw rug in the foyer of whatever castle her mother chose.
They then entered the main hall of the dorm building when Mal asked, "So, you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon? Like wands and things like that?" Camilla wanted to roll her eyes but restrained herself. Mal was bringing up wands every five minutes and Camilla hoped no one would catch on. Then again, if Ben didn't notice the tension between Mal and Audrey then she was sure he wouldn't notice Mal's infatuation with wands – or a wand in particular.
"Yeah, it exists of course, but it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals."
"Who happen to be kings and queens."
"That's true!" Audrey piped up, "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." She bragged pulling Ben's arm over her shoulders. But Ben pulled away almost instantly when he saw someone coming down the stairs.
"Doug! Doug, come down." He called as a boy with short blonde hair and glasses came down the steps wearing a band uniform. "This is Doug. He's gonna help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms. I'll see you later okay?" Ben said, though it seemed like he was talking only to Mal. "And if there is anything you need, feel free to –"
"Ask Doug." Audrey intervened again. Wow, Camilla thought, she's already intimidated and we haven't even been here an hour yet, wouldn't their parents be proud. She watched as Audrey pulled Ben out of the building as Doug introduced himself.
"Hi guys. I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy and. . . heigh ho." He paused looking at Evie.
"Evie. Evil Queen's daughter." She introduced herself stepping forward with all the confidence of a princess. Doug took a moment to recompose himself before shaking his head and looking at the clipboard in his hands.
"Okay. So about your classes. I put in the requirements already. History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet and, eh, Remedial Goodness 101." He stuttered that last bit as Mal looked over his shoulder at the schedule and popped a candy in her mouth.
"Let me guess, new class?" Doug nodded as Evie twirled her hair. "Come on guys, let's go find our dorms." Mal said dropping her candy wrapper to the floor and heading for the stairs.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Your dorms are that way guys." Doug said pointing down another hall. As they walked Doug explained that they roomed students in shared rooms of two so Camilla would have her own room. The girl that she would have been rooming with was away for an internship program over in Camelot Heights and wouldn't be back until the end of the semester.
Camilla walked into her room and instantly felt nauseous. Everything was white wood, pink fluffy sheets and frilly trim. Flowers in vases were everywhere as bright sunlight streamed into the room. Oh, this just would NOT do, she'd have to do some serious redecorating. She started by pulling the curtains closed and blocking out the harsh sunlight, then she flipped the pink comforter on the bed so it had its white side facing up. She took all the flowers and threw them in the trash and stored the vases in the back of her closet. She pulled the frilly pink lace off the top of the four poster bed and took the matching covers off the pillows. She glanced around the room, it looked very plain this way but it was an improvement. She only planned on being in Auradon as long as it took to get Fairy Godmother's wand and in that time she swore this room would get a complete Isle makeover from floor to ceiling.
Taking another look around she found that the only thing she did like about the room was it's balcony, it was made of grey stone and had two French doors leading to it's refreshing quiet air. She also had a wonderful view of the Isle of the Lost. The wide open blue water crystal clear until it turned grey under the cloud that always hung over their home. She took a deep breath of fresh air and returned to her room to unpack her things and settle in, then she'd head over to see how the others were doing.